WILDFOWL DOGS— HOW TO BREAK THEM 71 



faculty — "nose" — can only be successfully taught this work 

 by practice, and to have a dog thoroughly reliable on these 

 and other points he must be two years old. Here I would 

 remind my readers that retrievers in their first season should 

 always be kept on a leash or a trash cord when at heel, espe- 

 cially if they are inclined to be headstrong. A leash often 

 prevents a dog "breaking," which is a habit harder to knock 

 out than encourage. The other extreme, however, is some- 

 times found in the shape of a cowardly animal, which is 

 useless for wildfowling. 



FINAL REMARKS 



All puppies start or show signs of shyness when they first 

 hear a gun go off. Strong-nerved dogs do so less than others. 

 A few are slightly nervous, but soon become accustomed to 

 the shots. From my experience about one in fifty retrievers 

 (I do not here refer to non-working show-bred pups) is gun- 

 shy. These animals never make useful dogs. Their shyness 

 is a nervous disease, and if well rooted it cannot be cured ; so 

 it would be wise to have them killed as soon as this defect is 

 noted. It is a bad plan to sell or give away dogs of this 

 kind, or to foster them, since they may then live to propagate 

 their infirmities in worthless puppies. 



Wildfowling demands a greater variety of work from a dog 

 than any other class of shooting ; hence the importance of 

 having a good animal. To those who are unable to break 

 their own dogs I would suggest that before purchasing a 

 broken dog the buyer should ascertain how and with what 

 sounds the dog is worked, or, better still, see the dog at work, 

 and thereby see and hear for himself. The dog, if a good 

 one, may acquire the working instructions of a new master in 

 time, but if by chance a totally different manner from that 

 used in its training is employed by a dog's new master, we 

 cannot wonder at the animal's inability to work well. The 



